Bureau of Reclamation Grant for the Colorado Dust-on-Snow Program

RECIPIENT INVOLVEMENT

The primary CODOS deliverable is to provide timely information about dust-on-snow conditions in watersheds, through a series of operational dust-on-snow condition updates, alerts, and emails tailored to operations, which will be available to Reclamation. In Water Year (WY) 2013, the CODOS program will continue to provide narrative, site-specific dust-on-snow updates at timely intervals throughout the late winter and spring of WY 2013. This information will be provided for two study plots at Senator Beck Basin Study Area (Red Mountain Pass Snotel 2 km south), and ten other CODOS sites including:
• Park Cone;
• Spring Creek Pass (Slumgullion is the nearest Snotel);
• Wolf Creek Pass (Wolf Creek Summit and Upper San Juan are the nearest Snotels);
• Hoosier Pass;
• Grizzly Peak;
• Berthound Summit;
• Willow Creek Pass;
• Rabbit Ears (west);
• McClure Pass;
• Grand Mesa (Mesa Lakes is the nearest Snotel).
In most cases, with the exception of Spring Creek Pass and Grand Mesa, these monitoring sites were chosen based on their proximity to Natural Resources Conservation Service Snotel sites and their accessibility.
In WY 2013 the Center for Snow and Avalanche Studies will perform field work at all eleven sites, specifically the Center for Snow and Avalanche Studies will 1) document dust-on-snow layers and other snow pack conditions; 2) monitor associated Snotel sites between visits, 3) evaluate regional hydrologic data, and 4) contact CODOS program participants and other local observers for other observations.

In WY 2013, the Center for Snow and Avalanche Studies will also:
1) Continue collecting field samples from Senator Beck Basin and the other ten CODOS monitoring sites, for Dr. Richard Reynolds at the U.S. Geologic Survey in Denver, in support of his team’s research program in the Colorado Plateau entitled, Effects of Climatic Variability and Land Use on American Drylands;
2) Contribute information to Dr. Martyn Clark, from the National Center for Atmospheric Research Hydrometeorology Applications Program group, to support the Colorado River Basin River Forecast Center and other River Forecast Centers effort to quantify dust effects on snowmelt in their streamflow forecast products; and
3) Continue to provide field support and sampling services to the NASA-funded research team led by Dr. Tom Painter, and his collaborators, in an effort to improve snowpack monitoring and snowmelt modeling.

RECLAMATION INVOLVEMENT

No substantial involvement on the part of Reclamation is anticipated for the successful completion of the objectives to be funded by this award. It is anticipated that Reclamation’s involvement will consist of standard federal stewardship responsibilities such as monitoring project performance and providing technical assistance at the request of the recipient in support of the Agreement’s Scope of Work and objectives.